Of course comic readers can read more than just comics

A writer at the Blackshear Times spoke about a political argument he had with some online contact, who seemed to believe comic readers limit themselves almost entirely to that very medium, and have no interest in anything else:

You see, my worthy opponent informed me I live in “comic book fantasyland.” In a subsequent response they indicated I should stick to comics, because I “can’t understand political narrative.”

I can only guess they connected me with comics due to my profile pic, which features the heroes of a publication a friend and I successfully funded on Kickstarter last October. A brief online search of my name might also connect me with a handful of comic related websites and publications. Maybe they have even read my occasional columns about the comic book medium right here in this paper.

They probably thought they had scored some searing takedown, based upon a quick, surface level assessment of my online persona.

You see, the implication is that if you love comics you’re stupid. And if you aren’t stupid, then you are somehow immature or developmentally stunted.

It’s an old insult, as weak and tired as every other lame jab thrown at readers of every stripe no matter their preferred publication (books, newspapers, comics, etc.), most often by insecure people afraid someone knows more about something than they do.

They have good reason to worry too, because comic books lead to actual books. Now, my accuser probably hasn’t bothered with books in years, but when I look at my bookshelves I’m pretty content with what I see. There are plenty of titles which are close kin to comics; Conan, Tarzan, King Arthur and others, but there is also a lot of history, science, philosophy and biographies.

I myself have some Dungeons & Dragons/Dragonlance novels around the house written by Margeret Weis and Tracy Hickman, from a time when PC wasn't being forced upon the franchise like it's been today. And I've also got books about real life subjects at home too, including a book or two by UK writer Melanie Phillips, and also the late Barry Rubin. (Update: my household's also got a book about French poetry by Kenneth Canfield, if poetry matters.) I've also read Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, and I've even recently gotten hold of a book by James Kakalios titled The Physics of Super-Heroes, to see what he has to say about the differences between fiction and real life when it comes to sci-fi writing in comicdom. And that just shows how, whether before or after, of course there are comics readers who do take interest in plain-text books. Why, even books with illustrations obviously count to boot, and I read some of Beatrix Potter's children's books like Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck in my youth too, along with Dr. Seuss. If those aren't stupid, why do some anonymous creeps think comics are? Do they also think the same about animation, even Japanese?

Another sad thing about people who put down comic books, which has plagued the medium's reputation for decades on end, is that they couldn't possibly care less if Superman and Green Lantern had remained in the grave after the 1990's Doomsday battle and Emerald Twilight, or if Identity Crisis had remained a full-fledged status quo, or that the Avengers storyline making Hank Pym look like an abuser remained stuck for a long time, that Scarlet Witch was made to look horrific as a result of Disassembled, or that Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson remain kept apart for nearly 2 decades now. Such people, without a doubt, have no appreciation for even the informative subjects that were examined in comicdom over past decades, like how drug abuse and racism are bad, and there were a few storylines that made points why sexual violence is wrong too. Could we perhaps guess why?

In the end though, some of these anonymous posters are people who're just looking for cheap, petty excuses to tell somebody else, "I don't like you", and that's very sad, because it does virtually nothing to improve a bad, divisive situation, and refuses to recognize that being a comics reader doesn't automatically prove you're "uneducated". Those who read comics are more than perfectly capable of reading plain-text books as well, including many tackling serious subject matters that comics are just as valid a medium to explore them in as well.

Czech comic wins this year's Muriel award

Radio Prague International interviewed Pavel Korinek, head of Czechia's comics academy, about a recent story called Oskar Ed by Branko Jelinek, which won the year's Muriel award:

For those who haven’t seen the book, who exactly is Oskar Ed? Is he a fictional character or something more personal?

"Oskar Ed is a fictional character who is in many ways typical of Branko Jelinek’s work. He is a recurring figure, though not in the sense of sequels or traditional series volumes. Rather, Jelinek works with Oskar Ed almost like an actor, a character he places at the centre of different graphic novels."

"In this book, Oskar Ed is a nearly middle-aged man struggling with family issues and dissatisfaction at work, a corporate job that doesn’t truly fulfil him. He is no longer a young man. He is haunted by his insecurities and by his rather precarious personal situation." [...]

And finally, is there a chance that Oskar Ed will reach English-speaking readers? Do you think it could eventually be translated into English?

"Hopefully, yes. Previous books featuring Oskar Ed have already been published abroad — in France and in Poland, for example. The second book was translated into several other languages as well."

"I know there have been attempts to publish Oskar Ed in English. At one point, the well-known alternative comics publisher Fantagraphics in Seattle was considering it."

"I hope that the four Muriel Awards won by the latest Oskar Ed graphic novel will serve as another reminder that something truly exciting is happening in Czech comics, and that English-speaking readers may soon have the chance to encounter Oskar Ed in translation."

I do think drama-based comics like these are what parents should encourage their children to read, certainly far more than action-adventure comics in mainstream today, and it's about time families did give comics like these a go if they really want their children to have something sophisticated to challenge their reading skills. So when will that happen? Exactly why I hope some publisher in the USA takes up the challenge of translating it into English, and also remains faithful to the comic's Czech cultural background.

Stamps based on famous comics and cartoon characters

The US Postal Service has an article about some special commemorative stamps they've developed, based on at least a few comics and cartoon characters in recent times, which includes the following:

• 1997’s Bugs Bunny featuring the animated rabbit leaning on a mailbox with a carrot in hand;
• 2006’s DC Comics Super Heroes, featuring portraits of Batman, Wonder Woman, the Flash, Green Lantern, Hawkman, Green Arrow, Aquaman, Supergirl and Plastic Man in a 20-design pane;
• 2015’s Batman, featuring four versions of Batman drawn from different comic book eras, paired with four “bat-signals” that trace the evolution of his character; and
• 2016’s Wonder Woman, featuring four portraits of the Amazon princess from different comic book eras, emphasizing both her physical power and her sense of purpose.

Well at least this kind of venture is more appealing at this point than the artistic fiasco DC degenerated into by that time. But for all we know, even this could end up being craved by the speculator market, and that wouldn't be any better than how pamphlets are repeatedly bought by such decidedly misguided and embarrassing people for the sake of money, and in hopes the newer ones will actually make the same, which first brought down industry in the mid-90s.

Putting comics and cartoon characters on stamps can be creative, and might be preferable to some other forms of merchandise, but even that's no substitute for artistic quality in terms of storytelling.

New ANN report suggests wages for animation in Japan not as bad as previously claimed

In a followup to this previous article, there's now a report on Anime News Network that wages for animation development aren't as bad as what the Asahi Shimbun claimed:

From reports of monthly salaries as low as 160,000 yen (US$1,034) in 2015 to the examples of scant wages seen with 2020's #AnimationPaidMe hashtag, there have been numerous horror stories about working as a newbie animator in Japan—namely, the inability to earn a living wage. To find out if this was still the case, ANN met with numerous industry individuals—from freelance and studio-employed animators to studio heads and animator rights advocates. (This article contains quotes from only a select few of them.)

However, rather than tales of doom and gloom, we found universal agreement that, over the past five years, animator wages and working conditions have improved dramatically. When it comes down to it, this is mostly due to a shift in the inner workings of the anime industry.

“Since the Japanese anime industry continues to expand, we're left with the current situation where there is inevitably a shortage of human resources.” Hiroki Yoshioka, President of animation studio ENGI, told Anime News Network.

Studios are producing more anime now than ever before, but they are struggling to keep up. This is doubly true for 3D animation teams, who face an additional rival for recruiting recently graduated animators, as many 3D animators are more interested in making games than anime, since game companies pay higher wages.

To combat this animator shortage, large-to-mid-size studios—or studios with access to parent companies' resources—have spent the last few years reorganizing their animation departments. “Until about 10 years ago, many animation production companies paid on a commission basis—though they were hiring to a certain extent. However, in recent years, animation production companies have revised their labor standards, making it necessary to hire full-time employees,” Yoshioka explained.

The best place to get these animators? Right out of school. However, that's just the first hurdle. “While hiring characteristics differ between CG and hand-drawn (paper or digital pen) animators, when it comes to hand-drawn animation, one reason for [the difficulty in recruiting] is that the level of training offered at vocational schools and universities is far from sufficient for immediate practical application,” Yoshioka continued. “Therefore, when hiring new graduates, they need to be taught [the job] from scratch.”

Junji Murata, president of MAHO FILM, shares a similar view. “They need to train animators from scratch,” he told us. “Animators are like actors. It takes a lot of training to master first-class acting, so it's not something anyone can do easily—thus, there's a shortage of talent.”

And make no mistake: turning a fresh graduate into a veteran animator is not a short process. “Even if they are paid a fixed salary as full-time employees, their skills are low, requiring companies to continue investing in their employees' growth over an average of five years,” Yoshioka said. “I believe that less than half of these employees reach a level where they can be considered a valuable asset.”

This is right in line with Murata's assessment as well: “Three to five years to become halfway competent. Ten years to become fully competent.”

Well if that's the case, it suggests some animation employees are being awfully fussy when they don't have the full skills needed to qualify, and this in an industry where merit's given higher emphasis than what the USA industry showed in past decades. So, maybe the press was just unwisely playing along without getting the whole story. Obviously, even in Japan this is a problem. So, let's hope some animators will be willing to learn some lessons moving forward about why it pays to prove they believe in being talented as much as in asking for higher salaries. That would do the whole profession a lot more good.

What's been said about Disney's Hey AJ cartoon series and its use of a durag for a superhero

According to Breitbart, there's been backlash against against a cartoon show on Disney called Hey AJ, featuring a character named Captain Durag, based on its alleged employment of stereotypes, including the costume's accessories:

The black superhero character wears a durag on his head in Disney’s Hey, AJ series. The head covering, which is common in the black community and used to protect treated hair or to protect intricate hair braids, has gone from a mere utilitarian item to a cultural statement for many American blacks.

But the cartoon’s use of the headwrap has led some to criticize the Disney character as being insensitive, stereotypical, or even “disrespectful,” according to PrimeTimer.

Criticism of the character includes accusations of tone deafness, lazy writing, and claims the character is somehow engaging in cultural ridicule.

But the creator of the character, Camille Corbett, who is black, has replied to the attacks on her X account.

“I created the character Durag Man, now known as Captain Durag on the Disney Show, Hey AJ and I’m just finding out people are finding it problematic? I just wanted our culture to have a superhero of its own!” she wrote.

As bad as Disney is today, this does sound like a forced overreaction from leftists who're anti-culture, selectively or otherwise, and if so, then of course that's a shame this woke mentality's still around. It's only brought pop culture to a point where it risks being near impossible to create anything challenging, and that's unacceptable.

That said, Disney's still not worth tuning into at this point, and they'll need a much better overhaul of leadership and creativity if they're ever to be considered worth financing again.

A new comic starring M.A.S.K, and a movie adaptation

The Hollywood Reporter announced the launching of a new comic based on the M.A.S.K toy franchise, which also saw an animated adaptation during the mid-1980s, with Robert Kirkman's Skybound publishing outfit overseeing it under the Image banner:

Now, after mostly surviving as an occasional comic and occasional movie development announcement, M.A.S.K. is back in its most high-profile way thanks for Invincible co-creator Robert Kirkman and his Skybound multimedia production banner.

Skybound revealed a new ongoing comic from writer Dan Watters (Batman: Dark Patterns), artist Pye Parr (New Gods), colorist Pierluigi Casolino and letterer Rus Wooton. The announcement was made Friday by Kirkman at ComicsPro, as part of the annual meeting of comic book industry retailers, publishers, and distributors held in Glendale, Calif. The first issue is due to hit comic book shelves via Image Comics June 3.

Okay, good luck to them in following up their acquisition of the GI Joe/Transformers license from Hasbro, which is the main owner of the M.A.S.K toys today, having bought out Kenner in the early 1990s. But I still find it regrettable they're sticking to the notion of producing this foremost as a pamphlet series monthly, and even hinting at a lack of confidence by selling it with variant covers:

The first issue will showcase a main cover by Parr, with a lineup of variant covers from artists ranging from J. Scott Campbell, Cedric Poulat, Mark Spears, Daniel Warren Johnson, among many others.

M.A.S.K No. 1 will also features the first-ever Energon Universe blind bag program that allows fans a chance to get any of the solicited covers, intermixed at varying degrees of rarity. There will also be rare surprise covers that will not be publicly announced in advance of the issue release.

No matter how much I admire Campbell's artwork, I'm not going to soften my stance on why variants have made a joke out of marketing, and if they're concealing the actual covers in special wrapping, that risks making it worse, because it's like they're encouraging everybody to buy multiple copies to see if they can get all variants produced. If that's what they have in mind, it's dishonest and disrespectful to consumers.

And while we're on the topic, Entertainment Ireland says there looks to be a live action movie with one of the most prominent directors from the Fast & Furious series assigned to the job:

...Anyway, a live-action adaptation has been mooted for many years, but now it looks like it's finally coming to fruition as it's been confirmed that F. Gary Gray, director of Fast & Furious 8 and Straight Outta Compton, has been lined up to turn your childhood nostalgia into a workable film.

Gee, what if the finished product is anything but? The Fast & Furious series became tiresome and pointless after 2-3 entries, and when I watched the 8th, what insulted my intellect there was that a murderous criminal was suddenly turned into an ally. That was even more ludicrous than how sexless the approach became by that point. That the franchise even started veering into science-fiction terrain was also pretty risible. I just couldn't take it anymore, so why must we assume Gray will show any sign of improvement with this new movie project?

Yet even the upcoming comics should obviously be approached with a degree of caution, because even if they don't inject stealth leftist politics, that doesn't guarantee the new series will be entertaining. What I do know is that under Skybound, they may have made the Energon universe they've produced more grisly, recalling a page from their Transformers series where it looked like Starscream smashed a human to death. Even if that wasn't graphic or direct, it's still troubling. So what can we expect from a Skybound-helmed M.A.S.K comic? That remains to be seen. For now, let me just say it's insulting to the intellect if anybody thinks new stories based on old toy franchises have to be "adult" in the context of bloodletting, and I'd be much happier if all involved would at least avoid resorting to jarring violence just to "prove" where they can go with older products. It's rather obvious where they can, so they'd do better to avoid being horrific when it comes to mayhem.

Late Oklahoma lawyer's comics collection put up for auction

Another case of classic comics being sold on auction, as told by the Oklahoma Gazette:

A remarkable comic book collection assembled over a lifetime by late Oklahoma City attorney Eric J. Groves is headed to auction this month.

Groves, who died last July at 82, was widely known for his civic leadership, preservation efforts and support of the arts. Less publicly — though no less passionately — he was a devoted comic book historian and collector.

Now, his trove will be featured in Event Auction 65 hosted by ComicConnect, running Feb. 23 through March 15–19. The collection includes first appearances of iconic characters such as Captain America, The Flash, Wonder Woman, Mickey Mouse and Blue Beetle, along with a deep selection of prized Golden Age titles.

There goes another collection straight onto the speculator market instead of a museum. And once more, it's a shame. It's great if the guy was a historian, but why it's okay with anybody involved that the collections just get sold into a sales cycle is stupefyingly bizarre as it's sad.

Old Dungeons & Dragons cartoon show revisited in new IDW comic

Polygon says there's a new comic produced of recent that's supposed to draw from the 1983-85 Saturday morning cartoon TV series based on Dungeons & Dragons being reprinted in archives, and yes, this appears to be published by none other than IDW, which has been circling the woke drain for nearly a decade now:

The Dungeons & Dragons Saturday morning cartoon aired from 1983 to 1985, and the weird tale of a group of six kids who ride a roller coaster into the fantasy tabletop role-playing game is still inspiring writers and game designers. The characters popped up in the 2023 film Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, and Wizards of the Coast created an adventure based on the show to introduce the 2024 rules. The series was a big influence on Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans’ dark comic book series Die, and got its own comic adaptation from IDW in 2022, which will be collected into a deluxe hardcover edition releasing this summer.

Dungeons & Dragons: Animated Adventures Library Edition contains IDW’s three Saturday Morning Adventures four-issue miniseries, which are meant to represent lost episodes of the cartoon. The comics are written by David M. Booher (Ghostbusters) and Sam Maggs (Critical Role) and illustrated by George Kambadais (Gargoyles) and Jack Lawrence (Transformers). While the show was set in a generic fantasy world, the comics take place within D&D’s Forgotten Realms campaign setting.

I seem to remember this Maggs as a sex-negative feminist who ruined a Spider-Man video game co-starring the Black Cat. Even the Ghostbusters comic could very likely have been subject to similar wokeness. With these kind of people now employed by IDW, no wonder it's bad they still have a license to publish anything D&D related. The compilation is said to be nearly $50, so that's a lot of money best saved for better things. It's also not very encouraging when they mention the writer who made a mess of Iron Man as somebody who allegedly drew inspiration from D&D.

Since the subject of IDW comes up, Gizmodo wrote another fawning article about their Star Trek comics, and it looks like they made sure to provide woke pandering in them as well:

...Two new celebratory one-shots will also release in May and September. The first coming in May, Star Trek: Celebrations 2026, sees the return of IDW’s pride anthology, celebrating LGBTQIA+ characters from across the franchise with stories from queer creatives. [...]

With this kind of marketing, can they be trusted to deliver a decent D&D comic that's not filled to the brim with leftist ideologies anymore? Far from it. Nor can they be trusted to take a respectable approach to the characters from the 1980s cartoon series, which, IIRC, was produced by Marvel Productions, the 1980-97 animation studio managed by a business invested in Marvel at the time (the name was changed to New World Animation in its last few years). And the credited writers, of course, are also discouraging. I sure hope anybody who already has or may be making deals to publish creator-owned comics with IDW will rethink their arrangements. They lost the license to publish comics based on GI Joe and Transformers. But even D&D will have to be taken elsewhere with such awful wokesters at the helm.

In the end though, the owners of the IPs that were turned into a mess have to shoulder some blame for letting things go south. In the past, Hasbro may have put plenty of oversight on how much creative control and/or autonomy was allowed for licensees. If they own Wizards of the Coast, then whether it's the affiliate or the main managing company, they've failed the D&D franchise at this point, by allowing IDW's writers and editors to turn it into a disaster, and as I'm aware, WOTC has been alienating D&D fans for years already.